Megan McCormick's Veiled Journeys

Gandhara

by Mr. A_B

A friend on the train

The
Lahore Express took me from Delhi to Kabul. Along the way, the train
stops at Lahore and Peshawar, passing through the valleys of the
Hindukush. The scenery from the train was breathtaking to say the
least !

Lahore valley

The
Lahore station was built with a view to the famous Badshahi Mosque of
Lahore. I took the chance to take a few pictures of the fantastic
structure before continuing on my journey. Along the way I made
friends with Amira. I learnt that she was originally from Mexico and
is a revert. She moved to India after she had converted to Islam and
is now living in Lahore.

She
told me only briefly about her lifestyle and it prepared me a bit for
what was to come during my stay in Kabul. She was dressed in a burqa
that covered everything including the eyes. Only a thin intricate
mesh layer allowed her to see through. Out of curiosity, I asked her
permission to wear it. I had seen burqa clad women in Delhi and
Punyanagri, but this was the first time that I was actually wearing
one myself.

First time in burqa

The
cloth was heavy and a bit suffocating, I realized it would take a lot
of getting used to. Amira, told me that it was hard for her too at
first but she is now very much used to it. She works as a teacher in
Lahore, where she lives with her husband. Her in-laws are a more
moderate family, which makes them stand out among the more
conservative Pathans. They were also less strict about imposing
restriction measures such as gags and bindings. Amira did not wear
her gag while on the train, however, she is usually gagged when
outside otherwise.

We
exchanged our contact information before she left at Lahore and
promised to keep in touch. The train journey takes 20 hours from
Delhi to Kabul. I arrived at Nur Taraki train station in the
afternoon, the weather was just as hot as the rest of India, but much
much drier, to an extent it reminded me of Jaipur.

First
impressions

Nur
Taraki is the new railway station in Kabul built only three years
ago. It is replete with new modern facilities and a glitzy look, it
was quite a contrast with the traditional and conservative society of
Gandhara. Now, the thing to remember about Gandhara is, that sharia
law is imposed in parts and is not imposed in parts, but in all
places, there is a strict rule for observing modesty. Foreigners are
not exempt from this, unlike in other parts of the federation. The
minimum requirement is that women be veiled and that no part of the
skin should show. Implicitly that means the eyes should be covered
too.

At
the station I didn't see many women, but the ones I did see were
veiled either wearing a burqa or veiled in saris in a style similar
to Jaipur and Punyanagri. I presumed that they were outsiders, anyone
who wasn't wearing a scarf veil wore a burqa. Honestly, I felt a
little out of place in the station. I texted my friend Jaspreet Singh
about my location at the station and waited for her to receive me. A
few minutes later, a woman came to me wearing what looked like a
shorter version of the Afghan burqa which didn't flow all the way
down to her feet. The fabric around her head and shoulders too seemed
different from other burqas with the fabric smugly hugging her face
and shoulders. She came up to me and texted me back “Hi ! It's me
Jaspreet!”

Under
the veil we were both gagged, so texting was the only way we
communicated. It still felt weird, but more and more I was getting
the hang of it. When I first came to know that I was going to meet a
Sikh girl, I didn't picturize her wearing a burqa, so it was a bit of
a surprise for me when Jaspreet came to me dressed like that. It was
my first taste of what to expect in Gandhara. This land was home to
Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. Many different races and many different
religions converge here to create a truly unique and syncretic
culture.

Getting
ready to go out

Jaspreet's
family has been in Kabul since the 1880s. They like many Sikhs of the
time, came as part of conquering Misls who were encouraged to occupy
unoccupied lands and spread agriculture. Within a very short time,
the economy of what was once the Durrani empire came to be dominated
by Hindus and Sikhs. With the brutal conquest of the Durrani empire
by the Marathas, the country came under their rule.

Gradually
they pushed for the colonization of the land and altering the
demographic of the country. By the early 20th
century, what used to be Afghanistan had a sizeable Sikh and Hindu
population and its name had been changed to Gandhara. Given this
history, the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims were never too
cordial, but over the last 50 years things have improved. Gandhara
has political and economic autonomy within the territorial limits of
the Federation which has paid off over time in making it an economic
centre for Central Asian trade.

Before
going out to town, I had to prepare myself to fit into the dresscode
of the city. There are three areas in Kabul, the old town, the Sikh
town, and the new town and each of these areas have different rules.
The old town, is largely Muslim and populated by a mix of Pathans and
Hazaras, while the Sikh town is almost entirely Sikh with some
Hindus. The new town is actually a few miles west of the city limits
and its developed as a free trade zone.

Though
sharia law isn't imposed in Kabul, municipal rules have imposed
modesty laws, similar to Jaipur, so women aren't allowed outside
without a companion, not having a companion would invite a fine. This
isn't the case with the new town however, where there are a good
number of foreign workers from China, Russia and European countries
and modesty rules aren't enforced.

Jaspreet's muzzle gag

I
followed Jaspreet's lead in dressing up. First she put on her salwar
and kameez, then she put on her gag. Jaspreet showed me her device,
it was a soft leather muzzle with a panel over the mouth and a strap
that went under the chin. It's not the first time I've seen such a
gag, I remember wearing a similar one in Delhi, but this one did not
have a big ball inside to fill the mouth, its silencing effect was by
restricting the jaw. Jaspreet tells me this is more comfortable to
wear for longer periods.

A non-traditional burqa

Once
the gag was put, she then took her burqa and draped it over her head.
This design was a break from the traditional burqa, even the fabric
was different. It was relatively thin and made with synthetic
material which made it easier to wear in the heat. After Jaspreet
finished dressing up, it was my turn. I decided to keep wearing the
sari, which Jaspreet told me was accepted here as well, and wore my
burqa over it. Jaspreet gave me a spare of her's to wear which was of
the same design.

I
didn't have the same gag as she did, but I almost wished I did, I put
my old ballgag back on, and Jaspreet added a layer of white tape over
it. Though I was used to it, at times the ball did hurt my jaw if I
wore it too long. Once that was done, I put on the burqa, it felt
very different from the burqa that Amira wore on the train, this was
light and almost airy. The mesh layer was also very thin and I could
see through more clearly.

With
that, we were both ready to tour the city. Our first stop was the
Kabul museum in the Sikh town. Jaspreet's father agreed to drive us
around.

Travelling
around Kabul

Kabul
is a city of contrasts, the very rich and modern rests right beside
the conservative and poor. Jaspreet tells me that inequality is a big
problem in Gandhara, Kabul stands out as an oasis of progress while
the rest of the countryside is impoverished.

Jaspreet's
house is located in the heart of the Sikh town, which grew between
the mid-19th
century and mid 20th
century, till congestion forced urban planners to develop the New
Town in 1970. This part of town is a fascinating blend of traditional
Sikh, Maratha and colonial English architecture. There was even a
Chinatown in these parts.

We
arrived at the museum after half an hour driving through the streets
and by-lanes of the Sikh town. The museum was built in 1926 under the
auspices of governor Duleep Singh and Sheik Amanullah Khan. The
museum was designed to house ancient artefacts discovered in the
lands of Gandhar and North Western India. It was expanded over time
to become the most important museum in Central Asia.

With
over 1,500,000 artefacts it remains one of the largest museums devoted
to Central Asia and Northern South Asia. The star attraction of the
museum was the Kushan section. It consisted of artefacts from the
site of Tilya Tepe, which remains one of the largest collections of
Indo-Greek art anywhere in the world. I looked in wonder at the fine
craftsmanship of these works. The most important artefact is the
remains of the grand stupa of Kanishka. It was said that the stupa
stood at over 700 ft tall at the time of its construction and covered
in gold. All the remains now are parts of the gate called 'Toran' and
some of the base.

We
moved to the next exhibit featuring the Islamic period of Gandhara's
history. This was relatively new opened in the 1970s featuring
artefacts from the Turkic and Persian periods. For much of the
medieval period of its history, Gandhara was ruled by successive
waves of Muslim rulers beginning with the Arabs till the Persians.
The artwork of this period was no less wonderful. A partly
reconstructed wall from the Minaret of Jam was housed in the museum
which was salvaged from the ruins of the tower.

Kabul museum

We
spent the next two hours touring the museum seeing various different
artefacts and relics. A section devoted to traditional Gandhari
textiles fascinated me, there were different clothes from different
periods of history and some modern examples as well. One of the
dresses put up was the modern light burqa that me and Jaspreet were
wearing. It was placed right beside the more traditional burqa
design.

There
is a resting area and a park in the museum ground where me and
Jaspreet decided to rest for a while. The two of us rested in the
enclosed area for women only where I briefly took off my veil. The
museum was cooled inside, but it was still quite tiring with the veil
on. I took a much needed drink of water after opening the gags,
Jaspreet did the same. Jaspreet decided to humor me then, “How does
your jaw feel Megan ?” I couldn't help but tell the truth,

“It's
a bit sore.”

That's
when we decided to exchange our gags. I was already curious about that
gag when I first saw it, but now I was actually going to get to wear
it. After we refreshed ourselves, I put on the muzzle with Jaspreet's
help. I realize I may have strapped it on a bit too tight, the
leather straps went over my head and over my cheeks to connect in a
ring on the back of my head. The whole thing fit rather snugly on my
head. Finally with the strap under my chin I was effectively
silenced. Once Jaspreet put her gag on, we put our veils back and
went back out.

There
was one last section of the museum that she wanted to show me before
we ventured to our next stop for the day, the Sikh exhibits. It turns
out this was a matter of personal pride for Jaspreet and her father,
in the gallery section was a file photo from the early 1900s which
showed the Sikh regiment of the Maratha army. The photo was the Sikh
regiment after the victorious battle of Basra in World War 1.
Jaspreet's father pointed to a tall handsome Sikh man in the picture
and explained “That's my grandfather”. It was fascinating seeing
this connection to Jaspreet's family, it was something very new and
interesting for me as well.

The Uighur brown veil

The
Sikh section was a fitting end to our museum visit, we now made our
way to Chinatown where Jaspreet took us to her favourite restaurant.
Hotel Kasgar was one of the oldest Chinese restaurants located right
at the heart of Kabul's Chinatown, this one was founded by and run by
Uighur migrants. Interestingly, all the staff here seemed to be women
and they wore the telltale Uighur brown scarf veil.

Many
of the Chinese migrants here are from China's Xinjiang province and
fled persecution during the Qing dynasty and later under the
Communist regime. Kabul is now home to over 12,000 of them. The
Chinese food here though, was nothing like the Chinese food of the
mainland, the Gandhari Chinese as some call it is actually a blend of
spicy Central Asian and Indian flavours with Chinese ingredients. It
was really delicious, and I can understand how it is so popular and
why Jaspreet would love it so much.

After
that very fulfilling lunch, we decided to go to one of Jaspreet's
favourite places to relax, Babur's garden, built by the Mughal
emperor Babur. The sprawling green space had many visitors who would
relax in the shade of the trees and sit by the fountains and flowing
water in a hot day. Jaspreet and I sat down under a banyan tree and
decided to take off our veils for a minute. In the confines of the
park, it was permitted to take off the veil and be ungagged, however
any open display of affection is strictly banned.

There
were quite a few women roaming around the park in their burqas. Most
of them wore the flowing variety but a few wore the tight fitting one
that me and Jaspreet wore. At the park, I finally asked her the
question that was playing on in my mind from the very moment I came
here. “What's the deal with the burqa? Isn't that a Muslim garment? I didn't know non-Muslims wore it ?”

Jaspreet
explained to me, that it wasn't just that Muslims wore this garment,
it was a garment that was unique to Gandhara. Initially, Sikhs,
Hindus and Muslims lived segregated from each other and there was a
bit of hostility, but as relations improved Hindus and Sikhs of
Gandhara started adopting some customs of the locals, the burqa was
one of them, the other was the language of the land.

We
left the garden around five in the evening and headed back home. I
decided to end the day's travel at this point, tomorrow I planned on
seeing many more sights of the city. Jaspreet told me about the Eid Gah Mosque, the Darul Aman palace, and we made plans to visit the new
town.

Darul Aman palace

Next
day's travels ;

I
got up early the next day, last night we talked about some of the
places to go to and made a last minute change. The Ashamai temple was
not on my itinerary for the day, but Jaspreet convinced me to go
there. The temple is located in the centre of the city at the
foothills of the Ashamai hill. It's said that the eternal flame of
this temple hasn't gone out in four millenia ! When I learnt about
this I just had to see it. This became the first sight of the day for
us, the most important temple of Gandhara.

The path to the Ashamai temple

It
took about an hour to get to the temple. Both women and men are
allowed in there, but women are required to be at least veiled at the
temple. While Jaspreet went in following the long queue up to the
temple sanctum, I had to satisfy myself with an outside view of the
temple structure. The existing structure on the hill was built in the
19th
century by the Maratha governor of the province. The architecture of
the temple has all the features of a typical Maratha temple, for a
moment I almost felt like I was back in Punyanagri !

At
least two thirds of the temple devotees in the queue were women and
from the look of it, half weren't even Gandhari. After the visit I
talked with Jaspreet to understand this, she told me that the temple
wasn't just important for the non-Muslims of Gandhara but is popular
among Hindus in Punjab and the rest of North Western India as well.

The
overflow of devotion was an amazing sight. It felt like a spiritually
enlightening experience to witness the devotees flocking to the
temple, the temple itself had a very calming serene feel to it. It is
said that the temple is devoted to the goddess of hope. Jaspreet said
something to me that really touched me, “As long as the fire of
this temple is alive, the soul of Gandhara would live on.”

After
that visit to the temple, Jaspreet and I went down to the Darulaman
palace. The palace was built first in the 19th
century and then expanded in the 1920s under the overlordship of the
Maratha governors. It still serves as the seat of the governor of
Gandhara. The current governor, Karan Singh, had allowed visitors to
enter the premises, but certain sections of the building are off
limits. We joined the guided tour which took us through the grand
palatial premises. There were collections of art and a fantastic
fresco in the great hall, for me these were the two most attractive
sights in the palace.

Adjacent
to the palace was the stately Eid Gah Mosque and palace gardens. The
gardens were planned as a blend of European and Persian styles,
blending in the best of Mughal and European garden designs. It was a
very romantic setting, I saw Jaspreet walking gracefully along the
canals and fountains in her burqa, a light breeze blew making the
garment flow a little, she looked beautiful that way. I had to take a
picture of her this way, and ended up taking at least a dozen of my
veiled friend walking in the garden.

We
then went over to the Eid Gah Mosque. The mosque was built in the same
style as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, but not quite as grand. It was a
stately building which blended with the setting perfectly. It was
without a doubt a beautiful structure, but many more fascinating
places awaited us.

Eid Gah Mosque

We
would now go to the old town and the fort of Bala Hissar. We made
sure our burqas were in placce and checked our gags, keeping in mind
that the rules for modesty are more strict here. Jaspreet's father
came with us for this leg of the travel as well. It was really great
that he was with us, we wouldn't have been able to get around
otherwise.

The
fort of Bala Hissar is over one thousand and five hundred years old,
since then successive rulers have expanded and moulded this fort. In
the 19th
century the anglo-maratha expeditionary force fought the fierce siege
of Kabul and captured this fort. Most of the fort was destroyed by
them in the siege but several parts of it remain. The old town was
built around this fort and most of the heritage structures of Old
Kabul exist in the vicinity of the fort. Within the fort, there was a
Gurudwara and temple which was built to mark the victory of the
Marathas over the Durrani kings. Both these structures were targets
of destruction during the Pathan insurgency. The current structure of
the temple is much more recent built in the 1950s.

It
was late into the afternoon by the time we finished touring the fort,
we went to one of Jaspreet's recommended roadside Dhabas and had
kebabs. Gandhara was famous for its cuisine and especially the
kebabs, this was my first chance at trying it right from the streets
of Kabul. We ate in the car concealed from the outside public, it was
for the best, the cool air conditioned interior of the car was far
more relieving than the hot outdoors. The kebabs tasted more rich and
spicy here than back in India, it was a bit harder on the stomach.
Even so, they certainly lived up to their reputation. The last leg of
today's journey was going to be in the new town.

It
was quite a contrasting experience travelling from old Kabul to the
New Town. Old sandstone structures and bazaars would be left behind,
and flashy glass malls and high-rise buildings would come up instead.

The
foundation stone for the New Town was laid in 1990. Since then it has
been developed into Kabul's commercial and financial centre. Most of
the trade that goes through between South Asia and Russia passes
through this zone. The new Kabul rail and station are located in this
part as well as the upcoming new airport. The crowd here was so
incredibly different than the rest of the city. Yes, women did veil
around here, but there were also several unveiled women walking
around, quite a few among them looked European. You could tell the
locals from the foreigners in this part of the city. Kabul really is
a melting pot of world cultures, that has always been a part of its
character since ages and even in this 21st
century avatar it lives up to that quality.

Jaspreet
took me to her favourite shopping mall, the Star Mall. She said this
was her one stop shop for buying clothes and jewellery. I could
understand why, a visitor would be spoiled for choice here with shops
ranging from everyday needs and groceries to Gucci and Swarovski, all
under one massive roof. Jaspreet and I had taken off our gags for a
while, over here in the new town being ungagged under the veil was no
problem, but we decided to keep the veils on. By now, I was actually
getting more used to being veiled than not. While her dad went around
seeing around a watch shop, Jaspreet took me to one of the somewhat
lesser known stores of the mall.

The
shop was down a hallway after a row of clothes shops. This was a
speciality store for bondage equipment, Jaspreet always bought her
own restriction measures, her father rarely ever got involved in
this, finding the task a bit embarrassing. Whatever it be, it let
Jaspreet an opportunity to indulge in one of her passions, bondage!

The
shop was owned by a Persian, Rustom Amirzadeh, he is quite famous in
fetish circles both in Persia and in Gandhara. Jaspreet and he were
quite close friends too. The shop featured numerous implements, arm
binders, gags and different kinds of tape. The shop also kept an
asortment of fetish garments like zentai. Interestingly, he also kept
a Persian ruband and chadar.

Earlier
I had showed my eagerness to buy the muzzle gag that Jaspreet wore,
she remembered my wish which is why she brought me here. Rustom had a
wide variety of muzzle gags, some with balls inside and some without,
he even had a collection of hoods. Jaspreet had one herself, out of
curiosity I tried on the hood. He explained to me, that this was very
popular in Iraq and Persia. In Iraq of course, this was mandatory.
Something that was relatively cheap in Iraq was expensive in
Gandhara, and most people couldn't afford this hood.

In zentai and armbinder

On
Jaspreet's insistence, I tried it out too. It was a bit suffocating
but it did its work in completely silencing me. The hood also had a
blindfold attached to it. It was a small preview of what to expect
when I get to Iraq and Persia. After I had bought the muzzle Jaspreet
decided to have some fun, and I tagged along with it. We changed from
our clothes to don the zentai suits, Rustom helped me into the
armbinder and strapped the muzzle gag on. Jaspreet then put on a
chador and ruband over me and lastly a collar and leash around my
neck. Once she put on her ruband and chador, we decided to take a
walk and go right to the watch store where Jaspreet's father was.

I
walked with small steps watching my every move. The arm binder was
tight but not too uncomfortable, it did throw me a bit off balance.
We walked right by Jaspreet's father, but he didn't notice us at all.
Jaspreet went around looking at some of the watches here, while I
kept my eye on her father. It was almost scandalous what we were
doing, and it was totally thrilling!

I
was completely under Jaspreet's control throughout this little
escapade, I couldn't speak out because I was gagged, and I couldn't
move around, the leash around my neck made sure I'd follow her lead.
All the while, no one even knew it was us. After about half an hour,
we headed back to the bondage shop. We got off from the costumes, I
decided to buy a ruband and chador for myself as well for when I go
to Persia.

Later
on we did a bit more shopping and had ice cream to end the evening.
When we went back, I decided to wear the new muzzle gag instead of
the usual ballgag. It was much more comfortable, I think I will use
this for the remainder of my trip from now on. Later in the night we
prepared our plans for the next day. I will be going to Tehran next
and take an evening flight from Kabul.

After
we returned home Jaspreet talked about our little trick at the mall
and we all shared a hearty laugh. Jaspreet cooked dinner that night
and made typical home made Punjabi food. It was simple and tasty, the
warmth and hospitality of this family had made me almost regret
leaving their company, but I had plans to keep.

On
Jaspreet's request I decided to make space for visiting one of
Kabul's most famous Sikh gurudwara, the karte parwan gurudwara. The
Sikh religion was founded on egalitarian ideals, against caste
discrimination and gender discrimination. Women were inducted into
the military regiments of the khalsa as well. However, over time Sikh
society also embraced more conservative values, the gurudwara was
reflective of this change. Women and men sat on different rows during
the community kitchen called the 'langar'.

Most
of the women entered with their burqas or veils on, but at the
kitchen there was no hesitation in unveiling. We participated in the
daily rituals and had the community meal, it was a very spiritual
experience. I didn't know anyone in Persia earlier, and was planning
on visiting with a guided tour, but Jaspreet's friend Rustom had a
contact in Tehran. Once I had got her contact I changed my schedule.
Being Rustom's contact, Jaspreet told me that she would likely be
linked with the fetish scene there. Having gotten a bit of experience
in bondage I wouldn't mind getting a bit more of it.

We
walked around Babur's garden for the remainder of my time here, when
the time came to catch my flight Jaspreet's father dropped me off at
the airport. I gave my thanks to them and expressed my gratitude for
their hospitality before I left. I was still dressed in the Gandhari
burqa and sari just as I was when I started touring this city, but I
had put on the muzzle gag instead of the ballgag, this was officially
my new favourite gagging device here.

It
would be a three and half hour long flight before we arrive in
Tehran, and I can't wait to get on this next leg of my adventure.